Spring



J. N. WEIL Dec. 19, 1944.

SPRING Filed April 21, 1943 3nventor ll/E/L Patented Dec. 19, 1944 U'Nl'IiEFD STATES Mam f -.or eice 7 SPRING v Joseph N. Weil, East *Orange, N. J. Application April 21, 1943, :Serial No. 483,961

'- Clairn's. (01. 155- 179) My invention relates to a spring or springs adapted for use in furniture, such as sofas, chairs, beds, box'springs, automobile seats, and

It is another object of my invention to provide 2 a spring for furniture and the like which is cheap-easy of manufacture, and'obviates the use of metal, if desired, and of a considerable amount of the padding usually employed 'in upholstered furniture.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a spring which will furnish the desired springing action all along its length, from the front to the rear thereof.

These and further objects and advantages of my invention will appear from 'a consideration of the following detailed description and accompanying drawing, in which: I

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an armchair with the seat cushion removed and having in the seat thereof several of my springs;

Fig. 2 .is an enlarged vertical cross-section stood that any number of spr'ings I5 may be used, they may be of any desired width, and

they may also be employed in the back of the chair to provide spring action there if desired. The front rail II is provided with a ledge IE on the inner side thereof, which ledge may be made integral with the front rail or maybe a separate piece of wood or other suitable material secured to the rail l I in any suitable manner.

Each spring I5 is preferably made, of wood and consists :of a rectangular spring leaf or slat I'Isecured ati'tsfront end to the front rail II by a scr'e'w 18"01' other'su'itable manner such as by glue, belt 501 the like.

Below each leaf II -is placed a rectangular spring leaf I 9, the front end of which is spaced below the front end of leaf I1 and rests on the ledge ri t. The rear end of lower leaf is is secured to the rear end of upper leaf IT as by a clamp '29, but these ends may be secured together by bolts, glue or any other desired manner. The. rear ends or leaves 17 and I9, while secured together, are not secured or attached to the back rail "I13 but are spaced therefrom so that said rear ends may move vertically. The length of lower leaf I 9 is such that when secured at its "rear'end to the rear end of leaf II, it has to be :bowed'or vbent so that the frontend thereof will-rest on ledge I6 and abut the inner side of front rail I'I. siliency is provided for the pair of leaves I1 and I-El.

It will be evident that with leaves I1 and I9 combined as shown a spring is provided which will yield and provide the necessary spring action in the rear portion of the seat when sat upon. Leaves I! and 19 are made sufliciently stiif so that the rear ends thereof will not descend to the floor when' the chair is sat upon. Further to insure this result, leaf I1 is preferably made so that its thickness is progressively greater starting from the front and moving to the rear thereof, whilethe reverse is the situation with leaf I9; the front of leaf l9 is preferably ma'de thicker than the rearthereof. With such construction the resistance of the spring weight'on the seat explained above, and the adjoining leaf attached to "the .back rail wand having its other end free tomove vertically. Then the next adjoining leaf II maybe attached to the front rail II and the next leaf 'to the back rail. This method of construction provides a springing action all along the surface where such; springing action is desired.

To provide more positive spring action at the front of the seat, I preferto provide another pair of rectangular spring leaves 2| and 22 super-'f Leaf'ZI is provide'd at its front end with a downwardly extending projection 23, and is made long enough so that the front of projection 23 is approximateposed above leaves I! and I9.

In this manner a spring re-- ly in the same vertical plane as the front of rail Below leaf 2| is placed leaf 22, the rear end of which is secured to the rear end of leaf 2| and the rear ends of leaves I! and l9, as by clamp 20, but none of these rear ends is secured to the back rail l3 and all are spaced therefrom so that they are free to move in a vertical plane.

The length of leaf 22 is such that when it is secured at its rear end to the rear end of leaf 2|, it has to be bowed or bent so that the front end thereof is forced against the corner formed by the conjunction of projection 23 and leaf 2|. Leaf 22 is preferably bowed in a downward direction so that the ends project upward as shown in Figure 2.

The combination of the leaves 2| and 22 provides a spring action in the front of the seat when sat upon, and the combination of all four leaves l1, l9, 2| and 22 provides a spring action all along the seat.

This spring action all along the seat may also be provided by using a plurality of upper pairs of leaves 2| and 22. For example, two pairs of such leaves may be used, one behind the other, the forward one attached at its rear end to the middle of leaf and the rear one attached at its rear end to the rear end of leaf As shown in Figure 2,-leaf 2| is preferably made progressively thicker at the rear end than at the front end thereof, while leaf 22 is preferably made progressively thicker at the front end than at the rear end thereof. This construction tends to increase the'resistance of the spring action when the weight on the seat is increased.

The usual padding 24 for the seat is shown in Figure 2 and is attached to the front side and back rails of the chair in the regular manner, but this padding and its method of attachment to the chair rails form no part of my invention, except that when my springs are used, very little padding is necessary and no springs need be employed in the padding.

In Figure 3 I have shown a modification of the construction shown in Figure 2. The modification consists in the reversal of the arc of leaf 9. In the modified form of my invention, the rear springing action is furnished by a rectangular spring leaf 26 secured to the front rail II as shown in Figure 2 with regard to leaf I! and secured at its rear to the rear of a rectangular bowed spring leaf 2'! which is below it. The front end of leaf 2? abuts the two sides of the joint formed by the conjunction of the inner surfaces of leaf 2E and front rail H. The are of leaf 21 is downward as shown in Figure 3.

The front springing action in the modification is provided by a pair of spring leaves 28 and 29 superposed above leaves 26 and 2? but identical in construction and action with leaves 2| and 22 shown in Figure 2. In this modified construction, leaf 2B is preferably made progressively-thicker in front than at the rear thereof while leaf 2! is progressively thicker at the rear than at the front thereof. The rear ends of leaves 26, 21, 28 and 29 are secured together but are spaced from and not secured or attached to the back rail l3 so that these rear ends are free to move in a vertical plane.

It will be understood that while I have shown the leaves of my spring as varying in thickness,

all the leaves may be of the same thickness, or some leaves may have varying thicknesses and others not, without detracting from the advantages of my invention, and also that while I have shown my spring as rectangular and made of wood, the spring may be of other shapes and made of metal or any other suitable material. In addition, the spring may be reversed so that all the front ends of the leaves thereof are spaced from the front of the chair and may move vertically, while one leaf of the spring is secured to the rear of the chair, so that the action of the pairs of leaves is reversed, but the final result will be the same. Moreover, my invention is not to be limited for use in chairs, but may be employed in sofas, beds and the like or in other articles where spring action is desired.

I do not wish to be limited to the specific construction shown in the drawing, as changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention. The drawing and description are to be considered as merely illustrative of the invention and not as limiting it, and the scope of the invention is to be ascertained by reference to the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an article to be made resilient, the combination of a framework and a plurality of pairs of superposed resilient members, one pair consisting of an upper resilient member secured at one end to said framework and having its other end spaced from the other side of the framework so that it may be moved and a lower resilient member below said upper resilient member having one end removably abutting the framework below the secured end of said upper resilient member and having its other end spaced fro-m said framework and secured to the movable end of said upper resilient member so that it may move therewith, and another pair above said first mentioned pair of resilient members and consisting of an upper resilient member secured at one end to the upper resilient member of said first mentioned pair of resilient members and having its other end projecting above the secured end of the upper resilient member of the first mentioned pair of resilient members and a lower resilient member having one end removably abutting the projecting end of the upper resilient member of the second mentioned pair of resilient members and having its other end secured to the secured end of the upper resilient member of the second mentioned pair of resilient members.

2. In an article to be made resilient, the combination of a framework and a plurality of pairs of superposed leaf springs, one pair consisting of an upper leaf spring secured at one end to said framework and having its other end spaced from the other side of the framework so that it may be moved and a lower leaf spring below said upper leaf spring having one end removably abutting the framework below the secured end of said upper leaf spring and having its other end spaced from said framework and secured to the movable end of said upper leaf spring so that it may move therewith, and another pair of leaf springs above said first mentioned pair and consisting of an upper leaf spring secured at one end to the upper leaf spring of said first mentioned pair of leaf springs and having its other end projecting above the secured end of the upper leaf spring of the first mentioned pair of leaf springs and a lower leaf spring having one end removably abutting the projecting end of the upper leaf spring of the second mentioned pair of leaf springs and having its other end secured to the secured end of the upper leaf spring of the second mentioned pair of leaf springs.

3. In an article to be made resilient, the com- ,bination of a framework and two pairs of superposed leaf springs extending from one side of the framework tothe other side thereof, the lower pair consisting of an upper leaf spring secured at one end to one side of the frameworkand having its other end spaced from the other side of the framework so that it may be moved, and a lower leaf spring below said upper leaf spring having one end thereof removably abutting the side of the framework below the secured end of the upper leaf spring and having its other end spaced from the other side of said framework and secured to the movable end of said upper leaf spring so that it may move therewith, said upper pair of leaf springs above the first mentioned pair consisting of an upper leaf spring having one end thereof projecting above the secured end of the upper leaf spring of the lower pair of springs and having its other end secured to the movable ends of the lower pair of springs and a lower leaf spring having one end removably abutting the projecting end of the upper leaf spring of the upper pair of springs and having its other end secured to the movable ends of the'lower pair of leaf springs.

4. The combination described in claim 2 wherein the lower resilient leaf spring of each pair of leaf springs is bowed.

5. In an article to be made resilient, the combination of a framework, a projection on one side of the framework, and two pairs of superposed leaf springs, the lower pair consisting of an upper leaf spring secured at one endrto the side of. the framework above said projection and having its I other end extending toward the other side of the framework but spaced therefrom so that it may be moved and a lower leaf spring below said upper leaf spring having one end thereof removably abutting said projection and the adjoining side of the framework and having its other end extending beneath the said upper leaf spring and secured to the movable end thereof so that it may move therewith, said upper pair of leaf springs above the first mentioned pair consisting of an upper leaf spring having one end thereof extending above the secured end of the upper leaf spring of the lower pair of springs and having a projection at the said end and having its other end secured to the movable ends of the lower pair of leaf springs and a lower leaf spring having one end'thereof removably abutting the projection on the end of the'upper leaf spring of the upper pair of,leaf springs and having its other end secured to the movable ends of the other leai springs.

JOSEPH N. WEI L. 

